How do I delete assets and restore them?

Requires Basic

Quick answer

Deleted assets first land in the recycle bin, from where you can restore them with a single click. They’re only permanently deleted via “Delete permanently” or “Empty trash” — this is irreversible. If the recycle bin is disabled for the tenant, deletion is immediately permanent.

Prerequisites

Required role Administrator or Asset Manager

— deleting requires delete permission on assets (assets.delete, available from the Manager role up in the default roles). Programmatically, the API token needs the write scope.

The recycle bin is part of the Assets module and available on all plans.

Instructions

GUI (web interface)

1. Delete the asset. In the detail view, click “Delete”. The confirmation dialog tells you what will happen: “This asset will be moved to the recycle bin, where you can restore it.” In the asset list, you can also use multi-select to delete several assets at once (“Delete Selected”).

2. Open the recycle bin. In the asset overview, click “Recycle bin” in the top right. You’ll see all deleted assets with the “Deleted at” date. “Back to assets” takes you out of this view again.

   Screenshot pending assets-papierkorb-01 Recycle bin view with deleted assets, a 'Deleted at' column, and the 'Empty trash' button

   The recycle bin lists all deleted assets belonging to the tenant.

3. Restore or delete permanently. Each row offers “Restore” (the asset returns to your inventory) and “Delete permanently” (irreversible, with the confirmation: “Delete this item permanently? This cannot be undone.”). “Empty trash” removes all entries at once.

   Screenshot pending assets-papierkorb-02 Recycle bin row with the 'Restore' and 'Delete permanently' actions

   Per entry: restore or delete permanently.

API (curl)

Delete — moves the asset to the recycle bin by default:

Move asset to the recycle bin

curl -X DELETE -H "Authorization: Bearer inv_dein_token" \
  https://demo.notory.io/api/v1/assets/a2f1c9e4-7b3d-4a11-9c2e-8f6b1d0a7e55

Response (200 OK)

{ "success": true, "message": "Asset moved to trash" }

With ?permanent=true, the recycle bin is skipped and the asset is deleted permanently right away:

Delete permanently right away

curl -X DELETE -H "Authorization: Bearer inv_dein_token" \
  "https://demo.notory.io/api/v1/assets/a2f1c9e4-7b3d-4a11-9c2e-8f6b1d0a7e55?permanent=true"

List the recycle bin (paginated, newest first):

Fetch recycle bin contents

curl -H "Authorization: Bearer inv_dein_token" \
  "https://demo.notory.io/api/v1/assets/trash?page=1&page_size=25"

Restore:

Restore asset from the recycle bin

curl -X POST -H "Authorization: Bearer inv_dein_token" \
  https://demo.notory.io/api/v1/assets/a2f1c9e4-7b3d-4a11-9c2e-8f6b1d0a7e55/restore

Response (200 OK)

{ "success": true, "message": "Asset restored" }

Empty the recycle bin (permanently deletes all entries):

Empty the recycle bin

curl -X POST -H "Authorization: Bearer inv_dein_token" \
  https://demo.notory.io/api/v1/assets/trash/empty

Response (200 OK)

{ "success": true, "message": "Emptied trash (12 assets)", "data": { "count": 12 } }

Possible errors: 404 (“Asset not found” when deleting, “Trashed asset not found” when restoring an asset that isn’t in the recycle bin), 401/403 for missing permissions.

What happens behind the scenes?

• Soft delete: When moved to the recycle bin, the asset isn’t removed — it’s marked with a deletion timestamp (deleted_at) and the deleting user (deleted_by). It disappears from all normal lists, searches, and exports.
• Restoring: Clears the deletion marker — the asset is immediately back in your inventory, with all its data, QR code, and history. You’re recorded as the editor.
• The recycle bin counts toward the asset limit: Assets in the recycle bin still consume your license’s capacity. If creating a new asset hits the limit (403), deleting permanently (or emptying the recycle bin) frees up space again.
• The recycle bin can be turned off: The recycle bin can be disabled per tenant — in that case, Notory deletes immediately and permanently, and the confirmation dialog warns accordingly (“This action cannot be undone.”).
• Permanent means permanent: A hard delete removes the record from the database; restoring it afterward is not possible.
• Tenant isolation: The recycle bin, restoring, and emptying only affect assets belonging to your tenant.

Related topics

• Create an asset — including the license’s asset limit
• Search & filter assets
• Users & Roles — who’s allowed to delete?
• Module Licenses — limits per plan